During menstruation, women commonly choose to use either a tampon or a sanitary towel to absorb menstrual fluid. However, hybrid sanitary products, comprising both a tampon (e.g. an internally worn plug) and a sanitary towel (e.g. an externally worn pad) have also been suggested. These hybrid sanitary products are expected to begin to replace the use of separate tampons and sanitary towels over coming years.
For example, patent publications U.S. Pat. No. 3,420,234, U.S. Pat. No. 3,690,321 and JP2003-010243 all describe sanitary products comprising combined internally worn plugs and externally worn pads of various shapes and designs. However, all these sanitary products suffer from a number of disadvantages. In particular, there are significant difficulties associated with removal and disposal of these products after use.
The sanitary product described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,420,234 has an internally worn plug joined to an externally worn pad. This publication does not describe removal of the sanitary product after use in any detail. However, it is evident that the wearer is required to handle the sanitary product directly during removal. Typically, the pad might be grasped and used to pull the plug out of the vagina. It is most likely that the wearer will grasp edges of the pad. As force is exerted on the pad by the wearers grasp, the wearer's fingers are likely to crush the edges of the pad and/or the wearer's fingers will extend around the pad to a surface of the pad facing the vagina in use. Hence, it is very likely that the wearer's hands will come into contact with the surface of the pad facing the vagina in use, which is likely to be soiled. This is unpleasant for the wearer. It is also unhygienic.
The pad described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,420,234 is also unlikely to be able to fully support the plug as the pad is pulled away from the body and the plug exits the vaginal cavity. This problem is exacerbated by the weight of menstrual liquid absorbed by the plug during use and the likely softening of materials from which the plug and pad are made by the absorbed liquid. One option is therefore for the wearer to grasp the soiled plug as it exits the vaginal orifice. This is clearly undesirable. Alternatively, the plug is liable to hang down from the pad as it exits the vaginal cavity, making the sanitary product cumbersome to manipulate and making it likely that the wearer's hands will nonetheless unintentionally come into contact with the soiled plug. So, removal and disposal of this sanitary product after use is far from satisfactory.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,690,321 describes a sanitary product similar to that described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,420,234. However, this publication mentions that possibility of providing a string attached to the pad to facilitate removal. The string may enable the wearer to avoid directly grasping the pad during removal. However, the sanitary product still remains cumbersome after removal and inadvertent contact with soiled parts of the used sanitary product seems likely, even when the wearer holds it by a string. It should be borne in mind that the plug and pad combination may be larger and more unwieldy than a conventional tampon that a wearer might be used to removing with an attached string. Again, removal and disposal of this sanitary product after use can therefore be unpleasant and unhygienic.
JP2003-010243 describes a sanitary product comprising an internally worn plug attached to an externally worn pad using a finger sack that opens through the pad. The plug can be manipulated by a wearer's finger inserted into the sack from a side of the pad facing away from the body in use. The sack is double skinned and a string attached to the plug passes between the skins of the sack. It is unclear whether or not this string can be grasped directly by the wearer to assist with removal of the plug. Regardless, this publication does not describe removal of the sanitary product and it is again clear that the cumbersome nature of the sanitary product makes it likely that the wearer's hands will come into contact with the soiled parts of the sanitary product during removal. In this case, the problem is exacerbated by the flexible nature of the sack, which leaves the plug very free to move in relation to the pad in an unwieldy manner.
So, none of these existing hybrid sanitary products are capable of reliable hygienic removal and disposal. The present invention seeks to overcome this problem.